war films

[Kveto from Prague]

im in a mood for war films at the moment, cant explain why. my tastes tend to run in the war is hell direction rather than the war is glorious direction. i figure ill list a few of my favourite war films and see if there are any good ones im missing. the stipulation is to be a war film it must be set in the 20th century.

lets see:

The classic "Full Metal Jacket". Im not sure if any film captures the dehumanizing effect of war like this one. and the ending scene with the soldiers singing the mickey mouse tune might be one of the most chilling ever.

"Catch-22" another great surreal war film. also a rare film for showing an inglorious side to WWII.

"Saving private ryan" a good film and everybody remembers the start. a great moral question as well. unfortunately the ending was a bit cheesy.

"La Pelle" (translated as "the Skin") a really good Italian movie about the occupation of Naples in WWII. It really shows the lengths that a "liberated" people have to go to just to survive. Its mostly in English as many of the characters are american g.i.s. And another horribly chilling ending.

"Apocalypse now redux" really enjoyed the extended version.

"the Quiet American" set during the french-indochina war, but explains the later war perfectly.

"Enemy at the gates" a look at Stalingrad during the war

and "Escape to Victory" just for the football and "MASH" for good fun.

any you like?

[LoveHistory]

My Dad watches war movies. He has Tora! Tora! Tora!, We Were Soldiers and The Longest Day. Those are just the ones I remember, and that aren't already on your list. He likes Gettysburg too but that's in the wrong time frame for you.

[Ludmilla]

"Das Boot" and "The Guns of Navarone" are two that I can remember being very compelling. Navarone is an old classic over here. My husband loves "Full Metal Jacket". I've lost track of how many times I've watched it with him.

[G. Alvin Simons]

Memphis Belle - WW2 from a B-17 Flying Fortress
Cross of Iron - anti-war film about German soldiers on the Russian front
Midway - the pivotal naval battle of WW2
The Battle of the Bulge - Henry Fonda & Robert Shaw were both outstanding in this film
Hell Is For Heroes - 2 reasons = a young Bob Newhart provides comic relief in an otherwise gritty film & Steve McQueen's performance

I can think of others, too.

Alvin

[Ash]

All Quiet on the Western Front

[chuck]

Paths of Glory...WWI....Battleground.... WWII...Pork Chop Hill...Korean War....Go Tell the Spartans....Hamburger Hill....Platoon ....Viet Nam.....To name a few

[parthianbow]

I too love war films, Kveto.

Come and See - a truly chilling film about the German 'cleansing' of Byelorussia in WW2. One of the best five war films I've ever seen, but very disturbing. (Filmed in Russian.)

Days of Glory - a deeply moving and true account of the dreadful treatment meted out to French colonial troops who fought for their masters in WW2. (Filmed in French.) The shameful revelation that the French govt. had stopped paying pensions to all the veterans who lived in countries which became independent from France was reversed - 40 years after it had been stopped - when the French president saw this film.

Beneath Hill 60 - a fine Australian film (it's recent - 2010) about the Sappers who dug beneath German lines at the Messines Ridge to set the biggest bomb the world had ever seen.

Better than a film, because it's 10 episodes long - the amazing and truly outstanding Band of Brothers series, made by HBO, and about US paratroopers in WW2.

The Big Red One - classic war film from the 60s, about US infantry. Stars Lee Marvin as the hard-bitten NCO.

[Madeleine]

I'm not into war films but wasn't "The Big Red One" made in the late 70s/early 80s - it's always stuck in my mind as Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamill was in it post Star Wars, perhaps this was a remake of the 1960s version.

"The Quiet American" was excellent, if it's the Michael Caine version you're talking about, one of his best performances I think.

[wendy]

I prefer war novels (although I did enjoy Saving Private Ryan).
Top of the list:

A Farewell to Arms
All Quiet on the Western Front
One of Ours

Also enjoy reading anything by Stephen Ambrose!

[chuck]

More films...Gallapoli.....Laurence of Arabia..A Walk in the Sun...WWI ....The Story of G.I. Joe... 12 O'clock High...A Bridge to Far...The Longest Day....Bridge on the River Kwai.... HBO's Pacific...WWII....Bridges of Toko Ri...Korean War ..... Later